Pretty Follies
by tatterdemalion
Summary: My weird stories about characters from Merchant of Venice all compiled into one story! Goody.
1. Good Man

A/N: Hey! I just started doing the Merchant of Venice in English (about time, eh?) and I really wanted to expand on some relationships sooo...that's what I'm doing! Please Read and Review, that would be much appreciated!

**Title:** Good Man

**Author:** Kit-Kate Bar

**Realm:** Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

**Characters:** Launcelot Gobbo, Jessica

**Rating:** G

**Word Count:** 124

**Summary:** He had been a good man before he met her.

**Notes:** My favourite pairing so far.

He had been a good man before he met her, before her dark lashes and her playful banter bewitched him. He had been a good Christian before the fruit of a Jew had tempted him. No fiend at his elbow or conscience at his heart strings could help him decide, no words could he mince to his advantage as he stood and watched her marry another man. Later, when she walked with him, he teased her boyishly and relished their closeness. He was a fool, to be sure, and she had indeed married the better man – but Launcelot thought it was rather rude for a lady like Jessica to let him become addicted to her and then abruptly leave.


	2. Foolish

A/N: Still with me? Excellent!

**Title: **Foolish

**Author:** Kit-Kate Bar

**Realm:** Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

**Characters:** Shylock, Antonio, Bassanio

**Rating:** PG

**Word Count:** 109

**Summary:** Like pouring coins into a pocket with its bottom missing.

**Notes:** A SLIGHT hint of boy/boy relationship

* * *

What a jest! No mere friend would be that giving and that willing to sacrifice his own skin so his airhead of a comrade could sail away to chase after a flight of fancy! No, Venice was a ducat city, enslaved by its own greed. To give money to Bassanio was like pouring coins into a pocket with its bottom missing – foolish. Antonio, though he was many things, was not a fool. There had to be another reason, Shylock mused, that so wise and rich a man put up with the feather-brained Bassanio. Though, there are some explanations an old-fashioned man like himself is simply better off not knowing… 


	3. Forever

**Title:** Forever

**Author:** Kit-Kate Bar

**Realm:** Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

**Characters:** Portia, Nerissa

**Rating:** PG

**Word Count:** 143

**Summary:** There is always an end to forever.

**Notes:** Hints at girl/girl relationship

* * *

Antonio had confided jokingly to Nerissa that Bassanio, while ranting about Portia, had compared her hair to Jason's Golden Fleece. Nerissa disagreed – when she combed her mistress' hair it felt like silk, not the coarse wool of a sheep. When they giggled to each other in the company of foul suitors, her hair fell like a curtain between them, separating Nerissa from what she wanted most. They had done many things together, sharing secret kisses behind the drapes of Portia's room, on her balcony, before bed, in the garden. Portia had said they'd be together forever, and together they scoffed at her suitors, hands interlaced as they whispered their secrets and plans. They shared their last kiss at Portia's wedding. There is always an end to forever, Nerissa thought bitterly, and hers came in the form of bumbling Bassanio. 


	4. Nonsense

**Title:** Nonsense

**Author:** Kit-Kate Bar

**Realm:** Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

**Characters:** Lorenzo, Gratiano

**Rating:** PG

**Word Count:** 156

**Summary:** "You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?"

**Notes:** Contains boy/boy relationship. No likey, no readey.

* * *

Gratiano did talk an awful lot of nonsense, Lorenzo decided under the quiet shade of an oak tree in Portia's gardens. The young man was halfway into another of his elaborate speeches. Idly, Lorenzo watched his friend's mouth move while not paying attention to his speech. A leaf had fallen onto Gratiano's head and was moving with the man, bobbing with his hypnotizing head movements. Lorenzo tilted his head in wonderment as he watched the brown leaf joining with its hosts' unsuspecting dance.

A pair of lips were on his own and Lorenzo drew back, startled out of his reverie.

Gratiano was grinning mischievously at him, brushing the leaf from amidst his tangled honey locks.

"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?" he asked Lorenzo, wagging a finger in mock disapproval. Lorenzo grinned back, matching his lover's playful tone. "What is there to hear?" he teased, and then leaned in for another kiss.


	5. Chance

**Title:** Chance

**Author:** Kit-Kate Bar

**Realm:** Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

**Characters:** Launcelot Gobbo, Jessica

**Rating:** PG

**Word Count:** 96

**Summary:** She was not drunk enough to be caught in corners with a jester

**Notes:** References to DRINKING (le gasp)

* * *

He could smell the wine on her breath (though it could have been from his own) as he pressed himself up against her, pushing against the weight of folded skirts. A hand, slender but firm on his chest, shoved him away so sharply he stumbled backwards. Jessica's face was flushed but she was not drunk enough to be caught in corners with a jester. "No Launcelot," she warned sternly, "You had your chance."

Launcelot watched her skirts swish as she exited and wondered how he could have had his chance when she never gave him one.


	6. New Light

Title: New Light

Author: Kit-Kate Bar

Realm: Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

Characters: Jessica, Shylock

Rating: G

Word Count: 181

Summary: He was not a devil or a monster, just a tired old man the world had scorned.

Notes: Just a little bit of a father/daughter relationship. And yes, I realize that Shylock had left the house when Jessica left, but just…pretend something different, all right?

She snuck into his room so boldly in the still air of late evening. The house was emptier now without the presence of Launcelot and his late night tinkering. Jessica leaned over her father's bed and watched him sleep awhile, examining the way his stubby fingers clutched at the bed covers, how his old skin drooped over his bones, how the lines that sprawled roadmaps over his face told her stories (this one by the corner of his mouth for the grimace he held under the stare of a Christian man, this one streaked across his brow for the long hours of counting money). In this mix of light and shadow he was not a devil or a monster, just a tired old man the world had scorned. She pressed a light kiss to that old temple and whispered sweet partings in his ear. Turning her back to the bed, she slipped out of the doorway like a nymph to Diana's springs towards a new life, a new love, and a new faith.

Behind her, Shylock uttered a heartbroken moan and settled against his pillows.


	7. Plain Sight

Title: Plain Sight

Author: Kit-Kate Bar

Realm: Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

Characters: Launcelot, Old Gobbo

Rating: G

Word Count: 97

Summary: He can hear the irritation in Launcelot's reply.

Notes: Old Gobbo isn't THAT blind, is he? IS he?

* * *

Old Gobbo may be blind, but he is not stupid. He knows this is his son in front of him, with his fancy "Master Launcelot"s and his slippery words. Old Gobbo is proud of himself for his comparison of his son to a staff, and he can hear the irritation in Launcelot's reply. Does he think that he is the only one who can play tricks, who can act? Launcelot is dead, Launcelot himself informs Old Gobbo. No, he thinks as he dissolves into false sorrow, Launcelot is not dead; he is just hiding in plain sight. 


	8. Interchangeable

Title: Interchangeable

Author: Kit-Kate Bar

Realm: Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

Characters: Solanio, Salerio

Rating: G

Word Count: 174

Summary: Of course it's obvious to THEM who's who.

Notes: This story came about on the first day of doing Merchant of Venice in English class, when my teacher (jokingly) observed that 'Solanio and Salerio are basically interchangeable'…

* * *

Ever since they were little, sitting side by side in the schoolyard playing marbles, Solanio and Salerio have been interchangeable. People avoid the embarrassment of course – they are together so often that by asking for 'Solanio and Salerio' you are bound to come across one of them. It was not only that their names sounded alike – they were always in each other's presence, always appearing and leaving together. Over the years, the sting went out of the mistake – it was as common a slip up as writing 'then' instead of 'than', or pronouncing potato two different ways. Of course it's obvious to THEM who's who – Solanio is better at exaggerated humour while Salerio is better at listening to people's problems. Salerio remembers one time when he sobbed into his mother's apron from the loneliness of being called the wrong name, she told him, "It's only a name. People will still love you for being you."

So when Antonio addresses Solanio as Salerio, his mind on other things, Salerio places a gentle hand over Solanio's in comfort.

Because after all, it's only a name.


	9. Don't Look Back

Title: Don't Look Back

Author: Kit-Kate Bar

Realm: Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

Characters: Portia, Bassanio

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 100

Summary: This was wrong, this was weird, he shouldn't be here.

Notes: NEKKID PORTIA OMG!

* * *

Bassanio stares – breathless, heart racing, pupils dilating – up at the ceiling. This was wrong, this was weird, he shouldn't be here amidst the luxuries of this great house and the effeminate scent of his wife's bed covers. He should be back in Venice with Antonio and Gratiano and Lorenzo. There is movement out of the corner of his eye as Portia rolls to face him, naked and eyes full of sleep. "Morning my love," she smiles and presses a kiss to his jawbone. His stomach is as heavy as the casket that led him here as he kisses her back. 


End file.
